Turning to birds The power and beauty of noticing

Actress Taylor started to become aware of birds in a deeper way when she took a sabbatical from acting. During this time of personal quiet she started to hear birds not just as generic chirps but as stories of what was going on in her yard. As she says, no matter where one is, there is usually a bird to watch, and she began to delve into just paying attention, a skill she applies not only to bird watching and acting but to life in general. In a series of lively essays, Taylor dives into her experiences with birds and birding. A festival billed as the Biggest Week in American Birding in Ohio starts us off, and Taylor takes the reader along on her journey of discovery. Whether it's taking in the myriad of blues on a blue jay, showing a passing Brooklynite a downy woodpecker, judging bird tattoos at a festival (and thereby discovering the cedar waxwing), meeting a chimney swift counter, or setting up feeders at filming sites, Taylor (now on the boards of the American Birding Association and the National Audubon Society) is a wonderful ambassador for our feathered kin.

How an actor became an "ambassador for birds." Many people discovered birding during the Covid-19 pandemic, opening their eyes to the creatures that live among us but that so often go ignored. Taylor had a similar awakening about 15 years ago. Taking an "emotional sabbatical," the actor left New York City to decompress at her house a couple hours to the north, surrounded by farmland. There, away from the city noise, her senses came alive. "There were things going on out in the yard: stories, drama, mating, fighting, death," she writes. "During that time of personal quiet, I entered a world of sound outside myself--and I've never left." In this infectiously exuberant collection of short essays, Taylor describes how she brought her passion for birding back to New York City, where she regularly keeps an eye out for these "flying dinosaurs," tracking them on the BirdsEye app in her Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond. "Wherever I am, wherever I listen," she writes, "I can tap into that profound energy of survival and draw power from it." A thoughtful actor, Taylor wisely finds parallels to birding. The skill she most prizes in her work is listening--focusing her attention on the actor with whom she shares a scene. Investigation is another valuable skill, she believes. She likens herself to a "kind of psychological detective, tracking piece after piece of emotional information." Similarly, she writes, "It's hardnot to be inspired to investigate when looking at a bird. In following birds, I have discovered insects, trees, plants, radar, navigation, drawing, painting, oceans, deserts, forests, and people. In essence, the world." Birding also gives Taylor welcome breaks when on the road for film shoots. Keep an eye out: That just might be her at your local hardware store, stocking up on birding supplies while in town. A delightful celebration of the joys of birding--and how it leads one to look at the world in a new light. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.